stupid me

Had the afternoon off and it is good because I have my Portuguese language course tonight. I haven´t been studying that much this week because I had planned to study all afternoon. Last time we moved so slowly forward so I thought of quitting the course. I complained, nicely, and she gave me extra work to do. Now I haven.t done all that much so I will feel ashamed tonight.

Well I have some of the papers Lasse has left behind, from his course, so I have to look in his papers instead. Maybe I will pick up something.

I was really thirsty and I normally drink water when I am. This time I had the urge for something sweet which isn´t normal at all. I was lucky that we had some elderberry lemonade in the freezer. Lasse did it last summer. I wonder if you can have one in Portugal because the lemonade you make is wonderful.

Last night I went riding and I have really been missing it. Hopefully Pontus will stay well so we can ride in the woods again. I am sure he miss it too.

Now back to my studying.

Até à próxima (Until we meet again)

Åse

riding again

Today I went riding again. That means that Pontus, the horse i am borrowing is getting better. He has been resting for almost a month now, since he was lame in a hoof. He has been getting anti inflammation medicine so today it was walking gently for 20 minutes.

Also today I have updated my very rusty knowledge in CPR. It was a very good course and many things had changed since I last did it. I am getting a diploma and it is good to have these skills when we are getting the farm.

The big storm that was heading in over Goteborg last night ended up to be smaller than a fart. I had even forgotten a crate in my garden. The crate was standing up against a tree. It was still standing this morning so this storm Simone didn´t make a big mess as predicted.

Tomorrow it is yet another lesson at my Portuguese language course so I have some studying to do tomorrow afternoon.

Now it is time to say goodnight

Åse

A request for a booking and Royal Óbidos Golf Course

Today I got a request for a booking for a week over Easter. It is a couple who would like to come down and play golf. It made me so happy because it felt like a serious request and we will make sure they have a great time. So now we must buy new linen for the beds because we want everything to be fresh and clean.

They couldn´t have picked a better place than ours if they like to play golf since we have 7 golf courses near by. Here is a link I found to the closest ones. golf near Caldas da Rainha
The one with the best rating is Royal Óbidos golf course

Royal Óbidos golf course

Royal Óbidos golf course

This golf course is designed by Seve Ballesteros, a legend. I found a review by a golfer. See below

" Place State:
I've never played those fast greens! Smallest irregularities lead to extreme breaks. On 10 Green had virtually been repeatedly seen our balls in the hole before they came rolled past us...

Course layout:
Ballesteros has delivered a masterpiece here. From this place, opened in 2012, you will certainly hear a lot.

Chill comes in 10 of 18 courses of water into play, mostly just before and after the green. Since these are so extremely fast and hard, it is incredibly difficult to get hold of the ball.

The first 9 are not visible from the clubhouse. After a moderate 1 shows the place already on Tee2, a Par5 with plenty of water, his teeth. The following is a par 3 with a peninsula green. En these two additional holes are second to none.

9 The second view from the club house of not so spectacular, but not later than the second Hole (Tee11)'s back is rock hard and the water will not disappear simply following - better times to pack a few more balls.

Clubhouse / Catering:
Super stylish with a nice terrace including a sensational view of the square and the Encircling the water 18 Green.

Directions:
1 hour north of Lisbon and value every minute! 2 other top courses in the immediate vicinity."

So this golf course is really something and it is close to our farm, maybe 13 km.

Welcome with your booking

ase.rexius@live.se

for pictures on the farm see The vineyard in Portugal.

höstrusk, krattning och stallet

Idag har det varit både ruskväder men solen har tittat fram några stunder. Vi har hunnit med skogspromenad med hundarna, dammsugning, stallet och Lasse har slipat det han spacklade igår i tvättstugan. Dessutom krattade vi uppfarten och fick bort de flesta löven där.

Middagen står i ugnen och nu skall det strax studeras portugisiska. En ganska lugn och skön söndag med lite allmänpyssel. Man får mer gjort nu när vi inte har någon TV. Jo TV har vi men vi bytte kabelleverantör 1/9 men det har inte fungerat för det skulle till en router som var slut och sedan har det bara inte fungerat. De skall skicka en tekniker men det skulle ta 2 veckor. Lite syrligt.

Jag åkte till stallet för att rykta Pontus. Han är fortfarande halt men det går åt rätt håll så nu kanske han kunde komma igång och ridas denna veckan. Vi får väl se. Han var lite grinig idag. Av vilken orsak vete fåglarna men lite gos snodde jag till mig.

Imorgon kanske det blir IKEA med äldste sonen. Behöver inte så mycket men kommer väl hem med saker som jag inte visste jag behövde.

God natt på er alla.

Åse

making wine and Their Voice Portugal

On Wednesday, when I was in Portugal, a good friend of mine, Annelie, came to visit. Annelie and Hasse live in Tomar and we met after I´ve been reading her blog about moving to Portugal last year Annelie´s blog

They live in Tomar with their four dogs, a donkey and run a small B&B. It is just one apartment but it is lovely.

It was wonderful to see Annelie again. We have only met a few times but get along so well anyway. Annelie took me to a place near by the farm called Their Voice. They help horses and donkeys in terrible conditions. It can be perfectly healthy horses going to slaughter or horses and donkeys near death from starvation, malnutrition or just dehydrated. It is run by a wonderful woman Sharon Clarke who is putting in all her time and energy trying to save as many horses and donkeys possible from terrible suffering and deaths.

To see all these horses and the blind donkey Chloé, made me very sad. Maybe it is because it  is hard to be reminded how cruel people can be.

The rest of the week I learned some more about making wine

the grapes are separated from stems, leaves and are crushed

We didn´t really get the hang of it but you can see how long the grapes stay in the barrels before the pressing. It was something about the colour

you have to press down the fermenting grapes twice a day

happy girl making wine

disgustingly happy

Anders helped out

so did mats

The grapes stay in the barrels for 7-10 days before pressing and put in to steel containers.

It was a wonderful journey and I can´t wait until I go back again

Åse

Óbidos and Foz de Arelho

One day we took some time off from wine making and went to near by Óbidos. It is a extremely pretty little medieval town only 9 km from the farm. Evidence show that there has been a Roman settlement here, then the Visigoths resided here. The Moors started to build a castle and the the fortified walls in the 8th century but they were later remodelled.

the city grew outside the walls as well.

the entrance

narrow streets and alleys

A lot of tourists visit

The view from Óbidos is stunning

narrow

Every year òbidos hosts a Medieval Festival for two weeks in July and August. There is also a very popular Chocolate fair and Christmas Market.

When we had visited Óbidos we went to beautiful Foz do Arelho which is very close to the farm.

almost empty beaches

Anders and I are watching the waves

surfers in the water

a lonely surf board

beautiful Foz

kite surfing

we had time for a beer

Anders is very happy after his beer

Åse

I finally got to harvest

Since Lasse went to Portugal one week before me he got to see all the action. He participated in two harvests, first the white grapes and then the red ones.  And I missed both of them of course.

But they saved some lines for me and Anders so we also got to harvest some. It wasn´t the vindima=harvest with big lunch afterwards but I could at least get the feel of it.

happy

You just have to

Anders is proud of the result

After the harvest you crush the grapes in a special machine. Then the red grapes stay in big barrels for 7-10 days so the wine can get right taste and colour. After that they press the grapes and the juice goes into the tanks. I don´t really know how long ot takes before you can drink it. That´s another lesson.


Åse

feeding of the poor

This Tuesday we started with feeding of the poor. We didn´t actually feed the poor ourselves but it is a tradition in the different villages around our vineyard. I didn´t get the full picture but it goes something like this. Different villages have festas for 3-4 days (I can be mistaken here). They all celebrate different dates which is nice because there will always be a party somewhere around.

The last day of these festas they make a meal and you pay whatever you want or can afford. The people without means don´t have to pay anything.

This time it was the village of Guisado which was going to feed the poor. Guisado is a small village on the other side of the valley from our vineyard. We were going to be there at 1 pm. but when we got there it didn´t seem to have started yet and we felt very akward going in to the village hall. Let´s say we were the only foreigners there. We looked around inside but went quickly out again. Many people looked at us but some didn´t seem to notice us at all. It alla seemed a waste of time since the grills hadn´t been lit yet.

Guisado

Me and Anders waiting for the food

The men are grilling

The wine barrel which we tried to empty

It´s a man´s world

sardines

munching away

the plate

This little lady could sure eat

Content

coffee and port of course

The grill team didn´t mind us taking their picture

Anders was really happy after some wine, a good meal and a port

Mats enjoyed his food

Eventually we went back in again and sat down. All of a sudden there was a terrible rush. Everybody moved at the same time, took a glass, a plate, cutlery, salad, bread and wine (where the hell did all that come from?) Men started to bring in plenty of grilled sardines.

There were two different breads, two salads, potatoes, sardines, wine, soft drinks three different desserts, coffee and port. We ended up having a real good time and gave them some money for the meal.

After I had to go home for a siesta.

Åse

market in Santana

Every Sunday, Costa de Prata`s biggest market takes place in Santana, 15 km from our vineyard. This market is for the locals. There they can buy everything they need and more.

this lady sold bedding

cheap hams

here they grilled meat for bifanas, a special sandwich

fish mongler

Anders and I found a kind of donut. We had to try it of course


In the afternoon the temperatures soared up to 27 degrees and we didn´t do much more besides checking the wine, asking Bert and Coby, the current owners, a million questions.

will I eve get tired of this view?

 In the evening we grilled the douradas we had bought at the Sanatana market, in the barbecue house. Did they taste good. Yes they sure did. They were delicious. The fish and seafood are just marvellous since the big Atlantic ocean is just around the corner.

grilled dourada with organic lemons from our farm

Lasse is lighting the fire in the barbecue house

After a nice meal with some white wine from the farm we went to bed.

Åse